Snowy winter keeps city's sidewalk cop busy

Press Photo/Dave RaczkowskiTaking it to the streets: Grand Rapids resident Bob Bailey walks along Union Avenue SE near Prince Street on Tuesday. Bailey said he walks in the street because many area sidewalks are not kept clear of snow.

GRAND RAPIDS -- Bob Bailey could have used Darlene O'Neal as he walked to a friend's house earlier this week.

Instead of slipping and sliding over the snow-clogged sidewalks along Union Avenue SE, Bailey walked in the traffic lane.

"There's no walking on the sidewalks," said the 39-year-old construction worker as he surveyed the uneven snow-covered paths that line the street. "This is basically an every-year thing."

That's where O'Neal could have helped.

She is the city's sidewalk administrator. She writes up property owners and calls in private contractors when city sidewalks don't get plowed.

FACT BOX

A tricky trek: Many uncleared sidewalks, like this one on Grand Rapids' Southeast Side, make walking difficult.

Pedestrian-friendly

Like Grand Rapids, many West Michigan cities require residents and property owners to keep their sidewalks clear of snow. Here's an overview of the rules:

East Grand Rapids: Sidewalk plows are sent out after a snowfall of more than 2 inches. Residents are still responsible for the safety of walks adjacent to their property.

Grand Haven: It is the property owner's responsibility to keep the sidewalk next to their property clear of snow. The city tries to assist as time permits.

Holland: The city provides sidewalk snowplowing using a fleet of five small all-purpose tractors.

Hudsonville: By ordinance, cleaning the sidewalk in front of a home is the resident's responsibility.

Kentwood: Residents are responsible for keeping sidewalks free of 2 or more inches of snow.

Rockford: The occupant of every lot or premise adjoining any street shall clear all ice and snow from sidewalks within 24 hours of a snowfall.

Walker: Owners or occupants of any property are required to clear an accumulation of ice or snow from the public sidewalk adjoining the property within 24 hours.

Wyoming: The city contracts with two companies who are responsible for sidewalk plowing. They plow whenever a minimum of 2 inches of snow falls by midnight.

Unlike some places where sidewalks are plowed by the city, Grand Rapids holds property owners responsible for clearing their sidewalks. If they don't, O'Neal gets involved.

With this year's frequent and heavy snows, O'Neal said she has fielded 1,222 complaints from residents since the first snow fell in December. She is on pace to exceed last year's total of 1,400 complaints, she said.

O'Neal's biggest helpers are the "crusaders," she said. "They will call in whole blocks at a time."

Once she gets a complaint, she sends out one of three inspectors who cover the city. If they find an unshoveled sidewalk, they post a notice on the home or, in the case of a vacant lot, they notify the property owner.

When the inspectors check back 48 hours later, O'Neal said they will give the property owner another 24 hours if an attempt has been made to clear the sidewalk.

If no attempt is evident, O'Neal places an order with a city contractor.

That's when it gets expensive. The city charges an $85 administrative fee for the inspection, a $90 "mobilization" charge that goes to the contractor and the contractor's cost of clearing the sidewalk.

Depending on how much snow needs to be cleared, the contractor typically charges 50 cents per linear foot for clearing and another 25 cents per foot for salting, she said.

"After posting, we get about 80 percent compliance," said O'Neal, adding that she's called the contractor on fewer than 100 complaints so far this winter.

Although more homes in the city are vacant because of foreclosure this year, O'Neal said it has not added greatly to the problem of uncleared sidewalks.

Most banks and finance companies that end up holding the homes hire maintenance companies that cut the grass in summer and clear sidewalks in winter, she said.

For O'Neal, the bottom line is not about the fines she could levy. "It's more important to take care of the public hazard," she said.

While some cities provide snowplowing services for residents, O'Neal said Grand Rapids officials don't have the resources to handle the nearly 1,100 miles of sidewalks in the city.

In most neighborhoods, it's not a problem, she said. In some, it's almost contagious. One stretch of clean sidewalk begets another until the whole block is clear, she said.

O'Neal's favorites are citizens such as James Tellam, a homeowner and property manager who lives on College Avenue SE.

Tellam, a recent Chicago transplant, was hand-scraping the full width of his sidewalk Tuesday.

Leaning on his 18-inch shovel, Tellam says he also has "Bertha," a self-propelled snowblower with an electric starter.

Once he gets Bertha going, Tellam said, he may even clear off neighboring properties, such as the Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired, whose headquarters is around the corner.

But goodness has its limits, Tellam said. "I will not hand-shovel their walk."